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Thursday, December 10, 2009

Christmas Card Redo?

Yesterday in a fit of productivity, and an overwhelming need to cross a few things off my two-page Christmas to do list, I created and ordered 75 Christmas cards on shutterfly.com. We never got a good family picture this year, probably because everyone around me is allergic to cameras, so I made a collage of four favorite pictures of Landon with JP or I and one with just Landon and his giant smile. I wrote a little Christmas message, signed it Love, [JP], [LL], and soon to be big brother Landon, entered in about four savings codes, and got them for a great price and free shipping. All while on a two-hour conference call.

I felt good. I had accomplished multiple things (the photo calendars I also ordered are for my in-laws; I can't shop in their price range, but they do love pictures of their grandson) and now we could get our Christmas cards out by Christmas. My productivity buzz lasted through our firm's annual Champagne Party and the first thing I did when I got home was to bring up my masterpiece online for JP to see. (He did not attend the party; we have decided it is not worth the stress for him as a huge introvert to have to socialize with so many people at once, or the stress for me in worrying about him the whole time and then yelling at him on the way home for not talking to anybody.) The first thing out of his mouth-- "Shouldn't that say 2010?"

Oh yes, yes it should. You see for the Christmas message I wrote, "Happy Holidays and Best Wishes for 2009!"

AHHHHHHHHHH. I blame the conference call. And rushing. And not believing we're about to hit 2010.

But it is killing me. I actually dreamed about it last night. Twice. In the first dream I was able to call up shutterfly and beg for a chance to re-do it for free and they gave it to me and I was so happy I woke up. The second time I couldn't get them to redo it, so I added a P.S. to our Christmas letter saying that while we hoped they everyone had a great 2009, we also extend our best wishes for 2010.

After grinding my teeth for 8 hours I'm now just thinking about re-ordering them. It will cost about $45. What would you do? (You know, if you were me, and you kept a little book of your yearly Christmas cards and letters, and if mistakes and typos kill you slowly from the inside, and while the idea of wasting $45 also hurts me, I've done virtually no shopping or erranding in the last two months and this could be a Christmas present to myself, like a pair of shoes I never saw to buy.) But is it ridiculous to re-order because of a little date error? Does it matter if it's ridiculous? JP just laughed when I shared my dilemma and said whatever I wanted was fine. Help!

some companies will actually look over for blatent mistakes- I don't know how shutterfly is but they might catch it and change it. can you just call first to see if they can make the quick change? I messed up on my son's birthday invitation by putting the wrong day so I just used blank return address labels to write over it with the correct day- if the "2009" is small enough it might not be so bad to try that.

That is a tough one! Technically, it is the 2009 Holiday Season, so I cannot blame you for that mistake! Wow.

Personally, I would re-order, you will feel better.

I do know how you feel, though. I made a weird cropping mistake in 2007 with my cards. A frantic, pathetic yet polite call to Photoworks.com (my online photo vendor of choice) netted me free boxes of cards and free shipping.

They're pretty clear when you order that you have 30 minutes to call with any changes and then the cards will be processed. On my order status they are now listed as "in production". I may call anyway just to see if I can snag some sort of break on a re-order, especially since this time I won't hit the total I need for free shipping. I don't think I can just fix each card b/c they're printed on a patterened glossy background. Grrr!

It might be worth a call just to see if there's anything they can do for you. They might be able to give you a discount code for the next set or something like that.

Is there any way you can salvage the cards with minimal work/expense yourself at home- like cutting off the greeting at the bottom and putting them in those fill-in-the-photo cards? Actually, now that I type that, it seems like a lot of work, and between buying the new cards and the labor involved, it probably wouldn't save you that much money. If it were me, I would feel a little silly about the extra money, but I would reorder them, anyway. Best not to torment yourself over $45.

Welcome!

"Lag liv," imperfectly translated, means "law life" in Swedish. I'm half Swedish and I was in law school back when I wrote my first post in 2006, so Lag Liv I became and Lag Liv I still am!

Now I'm a full-time attorney, part-time barre teacher, and all-the-time wife and mom of three. We live a busy life in charming Fort Worth, Texas. You can read more about me and my cast of characters in the About Me and My Blog page. Happy reading and if you'd like to contact me, my email is lagliv [at] gmail [dot] com.